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Brexit, Sadiq Khan, and Lessons from the Igbo on Radical Islam

by Osita Ebiem July 24, 2016

written by Osita Ebiem

Dogs at play

The Igbo believe that there is a standard rule of play which dogs observe when two of them are at play: When one dog falls on its back the other dog knows without any other prompting that the next time is his turn to fall too. In this way, the play does not turn into a fight and will last longer. The lesson here is that when I fall for you and you in turn fall for me, the world goes around and becomes a more peaceful place where we all work, play and prosper in the spirit of give and take.

A Muslim becomes the Mayor of London

On May 9, 2016 the new Mayor of London Sadiq Khan was heralded into office with a fanfare and much jubilation. By any stretch of the imagination the election of Khan, a Muslim whose parents were recent Pakistani immigrants to Britain was historic. For the next 4 years Khan will preside over the affairs of one of the greatest cities of Christendom and Western civilization – London England. London, a Christian English city is only 60 miles from the famous cathedral in Canterbury where the revered Archbishop of Canterbury who is the global head of the Church of England lives. So, as well as being an important Western civilization’s cultural center, to many members of the Anglican Communion, Wesleyan Methodists and many other Christians, London can also serve as a holy city comparable with any other religions’ “holy” cities anywhere else.

For some people, especially the liberal politicians, the result of the London mayoral election was just the way it’s supposed to be. Such liberal thinkers argue that this is 2016 after all, and the world has come a long way in its journey towards tolerance and the integration of world’s diverse cultures and peoples. That notwithstanding, and given the prevailing realities of Islamic terrorism and violent jihad being unleashed by radical Muslims throughout the world, there are a large number of conservatives, including some moderates, who were shocked at Khan’s election as the new Mayor of London. Nevertheless, many have compared his election in London in some ways, to the 2008 election of Barack Obama into the White House as the President of the United States of America.

But, as some people have observed; in Obama’s case, he had to make an extra effort to assert and defend his Christian faith. While in Khan’s case, the people of London went a step further than the Americans; Sadiq Khan did not have to disguise his Islamic faith in his bid to become the Mayor of one of the most important Christian and Western cities in the world. In this regard therefore, Khan’s election became both a personal as well as a collective victory. The collective which won alongside Khan are all those who have campaigned to see a world where the populations of societies everywhere are more plural and diversified than closeted and mono-cultural. In this regard, the Western culture and education as represented by the city of London leads the way and has become the epitome of tolerance and liberty of the 21^st century. London is now a city on the hill to which any other elsewhere that is eager to exhibit tolerance and integration will aspire to copy

The dangers of Muslims resisting assimilation

However, and unfortunately so, judging from current events and experiences in Europe and other Western societies, it shows that it is not enough to create multi-cultural societies through open liberal immigration policies. What is even more important is that recent immigrants should be encouraged to integrate with the native populations to which they emigrate. It is of primary importance that new immigrants should accept the ways and practices of their host communities. Sadly and very troubling too, most Muslim immigrants to Western societies have continued to resist assimilation into their host Western societies. This resistance therefore has continued to breed unnecessary social tensions and cultural clashes. Apparently and very absurd also, the Muslim immigrants are fighting to destroy the very cultural foundations and social practices that sustained the host societies and made them attractive to the newcomers to want to emigrate to them.

Since the last few decades collective human civilization and progress have come under severe attack and threatened with real danger by unholy heat from radical Islam. And very disturbingly, this heat is fueled by these Muslims’ deep-rooted hatred and intolerance of other people’s views and cultures. Going by the Biafran experience, the danger of such antisocial behaviors as being displayed by these radical Muslims can be terrible and far reaching. When these excesses go unchecked for too long, they end up producing very serious crimes like complete social breakdown, genocide and other forms of crimes against humanity and civilization.

Radical Islam was responsible for the Biafran Genocide

As some readers may recall, it was the same intolerance and hate that led the Muslim dominated government of Nigeria, between 1966 and 1970, to commit the genocide of the Igbo in which more than 3.1 million Igbo perished. This heinous crime of genocide against the Igbo has so far gone largely unnoticed and unpunished, and as a result fifty years after, the world is witnessing an increased widespread impunity where the same group of people is committing the same atrocities against other populations. This world belongs equally to all the people here and no single group should lay claim to an exclusive right to control it and dictate for all others how they should live their lives.

The people of the world should come together to save the world

In 2016, fifty years after Biafra or Igbo Genocide, Muslim extremists have continued to pose real danger to not only Igbo people in Nigeria, Western civilization and its peoples, but also to all humanity, its civilizations, peoples and every progress that the collective humanity has ever made. And rather than continue to live in denial, human beings everywhere should now assume the responsibility by coming together to stop this bent by radical Muslims to destroy the world civilization as we know it. The international community must come together to fight this Islamic monster to a halt. The international community, led by the United Nations must declare a global state of emergency against intolerance, hate, violent Islam, sharia and jihad. Honest, sincere and practical steps must be taken collectively by the international community now to stop this madness or everything the world had ever held dear and all progress made by human beings will be doomed. The continued survival of the human race and their civilization is the collective responsibility of all people everywhere and the people must come together to save themselves.

Extending London-example to Islamic societies

Apart from the immigrants accepting, and in some cases willingly adopting the ways and cultures of their host communities, to accelerate the rate of integration of world’s cultures and populations, other cities and societies around the world need to follow in the path which the city of London has gone. In this regard it is necessary to particularly call out the traditional Muslim cities and societies. Tolerating and integrating with other cultures and peoples cannot be a unidirectional river that flows only from the West and other free societies toward the Muslims. Going back to the dogs’ rule of play with which we started this discussion; all Islamic countries and other societies which hitherto had been bent on remaining exclusive and intolerant of other cultures and worldviews must look up to London’s example and update their societies to the 21^st century London-standards.

In this same spirit of tolerance, it will be proper to see in no distant time, probably within the next decade, a Christian or Jewish man or woman become the mayor, emir or its equivalent of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. Within the next ten years there should be a Christian or Jewish man or woman born by recent Christian or Jewish immigrant parents elected to become the mayor or emir of Tehran. Also, as the West has shown through the election of a Muslim into the mayoral office in London, such Islamic terrorist groups like al Qaeda, Islamic State, Boko Haram among others which are bent on destroying everybody, all cultures and views that are different from theirs must reconsider their unholy barbarous campaigns and start working toward tolerating and accepting other people and cultures. They must accept and practically demonstrate that 21^st century world and civilization have moved far away from the 7^th century intolerant Arab barbarism on which Islamic sharia and jihad are based.

July 24, 2016 0 comments

“Guidelines for Effective Propaganda” to market Biafra

by Osita Ebiem July 7, 2016

written by Osita Ebiem

My mission in writing this article is to call to the attention of all Biafranists (those who are campaigning for the freedom of Biafra from Nigeria) to the need to package and sell the Biafran message to the world through appropriate mediums. It does not matter the profession to which anyone of us belongs, I still think that each person can contribute positively to this endearing collective effort to help free the Igbo from Nigeria. I believe that these bits and pieces of contributions, if taken to heart and actually made use of, can help the Igbo to succeed in their quest for freedom and survival. In this piece we are going to talk about the use of positive propaganda in the Biafran freedom effort. We qualify the word “propaganda” with “positive” in the sense that the justness of the Biafran cause is self-evident and does not need any kind of embellishment to sell it to the world.

As will be explained in the later part of this article, part of the above heading in quotes is borrowed from the formula used by the people (our predecessors) who struggled to free the old Biafra from the clutches of the genocidal state of Nigeria. In spite of the many odds which were thrown against them, we all agree that they did a good job in fighting to liberate our people from the shackles of bondage in which they are in Nigeria. Therefore, in the present effort, we are only starting from where they stopped. As a word of caution, we repeat that “propaganda,” at least as used in this context, does not connote any negativity.

As the campaign for freedom rages on, it will not hurt if the present campaigners should borrow ideas from the pioneers. In my opinion, by so doing, it’s like borrowing ideas from experience and if we are faithful and honest, I don’t think we will go off the mark by a wide margin. As will be remembered, the Biafrans of old had among others a very effective “Directorate of Propaganda” where notable figures like Cyprian Ekwensi, Okon Okon Ndem and others performed creditably well. Biafra’s Directorate of Propaganda coordinated and oversaw the dissemination of information throughout the genocidal war period. Following closely the lessons of history is important especially in a matter such as we are engaged in.

In order to learn from history, I will suggest that we try to use more often the rearview mirror and compare notes with the works of those who had been in this business before us. The importance of references to history in the struggle cannot be over emphasized. While depending on the lessons of history by glancing often at the rearview mirror, we must not overlook the fact that all successful drivers are only those who take seriously the dangers of their blind spots. So, apart from using the rearview mirror, experience has shown that you will never become a good driver without taking time to look sideways and listen to cautionary advices from fellow travelers who may have some vantage views of the road you are on. The best way to deal with blind spots is to listen and act first and ask questions later. If you thought that you saw something at the corner of your eye, then you must have seen something, take precautionary action. What this means is that absolute caution is important. And one of the first rules of caution in this business is to listen often to the opinions of others.

To truly get our jobs done right today as the pioneers did, we must set out our goals and clearly define them. That is what the people who worked in the various “directorates” of the old Biafra did. By taking time to assess the events and accomplishments of the pioneers, I have come to the conclusion, and many of us will agree with me on this; that of all the Biafran directorates, the propaganda outfit was one of the most successful. The reason for their success was simple. They worked out of a template; they had a “guideline.” No one was a law unto their selves. Everyone’s effort was subject to the scrutiny and assessment of another. Then again, they spoke in the language that appealed to all decent and informed listeners as well as to the regular Ngbeke and Ngbafor on the streets of Enugu, London, New York and Paris. Yes, they spoke in the language of the world. They delivered their urgent and important message to the world, still tempered with respect and journalistic excellence and decorum.

I want to remind us that talking about the success of those pioneers is not based on the judgement or assessment of only those of other Biafrans; no, they were successful mostly because they produced materials and information that met both the internal and international audiences’ standards. They told the truth, pursued excellence and as well as being in earnest, they were sincere and honest.

Why did they and of course we today have to cater to both internal and external audiences? Well, the answer as we may imagine is obvious. It is because whatever message that must be passed on should make sense as well as palatable (consumable) to audiences that are total strangers to our experience and message and to those who know all there is to know about them. Whatever part we are playing at this time in this Biafran liberation effort, the overall goal should be that we are ultimately able to present a comprehensive and convincing message that is honest, sincere, reliable as well as believable. It is only after we have succeeded at this task can we truly consider to have done our job. I believe that those qualities are mostly what will get a stranger listening, to get interested, listen more and understand better our plight and become sympathetic and maybe lift a finger or more to speak and act in our favor.

Producing only messages that are parochial and appeal to a narrow segment of the general audience will only work to defeat the overall goal. It is important that we should work to capture the attention of the international community through the way we present our message. Why we should be careful and court the sympathy of the international audience can be illustrated like this; when a person is sick, very often it is only right that he or she needs to go out to seek for solution. Remaining inside the house and shouting one’s throat hoarse to listeners who are already familiar with their case and may not have all the answers does not always bring healing.

To help us in packaging an acceptable message for the international community we need to always remember that as the theme of our message: Igbo Genocide, though very painful is not unique. Other people in other places and at other times have also suffered like us. Always remembering this will help us to stay both humble as well as sympathetic with other people’s stories and whatever else they are going through. Exhibiting this empathetic attitude should not stop with appreciating the pain or concerns of others of similar experiences; we must not be oblivious of the complaints and concerns of our detractors or persecutors. We must find ways to engage even our worst enemy in constructive diplomatic dialogs at all times. The feelings of all humanity are the same, whether they are in the rank of the perpetrators of the genocide or are the victims of the crime.

Therefore, even when we find ourselves at the receiving end of genocidal injustices as it is, we are still required to look at our pain and those who are responsible through the glass of a common humanity. In the middle of man’s worst inhuman acts against the Igbo we cannot afford to lose faith in humanity. By resorting to insults and unconstructive criticisms of the enemy shows a sign of desperation. We cannot afford to despare, we must find ways to let others find their story in our own as we try to learn everything which we can from the others’ stories. Some of these others like the Armenians, the Jews, the South Sudanese and others have fought and won while others are still fighting and there are those who fought and lost. We can learn a lot from the experiences of these other people, if we tried hard enough.

What we are saying is that it runs counter to the overall aim of the struggle for Biafra’s freedom to continue producing desperate and angry messages that shock and assault what most people consider the standard sense of decency. Continuing along this path will not sustain for long the patronage and sympathy of our audience. And when we talk of the people or the audience here, who we have in mind are those whose opinions and decisions matter in situations like ours – opinion molders and decision makers across the world.

Every person who is familiar with the Biafran story will agree with me that it is possible to maintain an objective position while making the strongest case for justice in regards to Biafrans’ pains. While presenting the Biafran case in the strongest of terms, we can still respect the feelings of other people, listen genuinely to any counter argument and still not compromise the message. Listening to the opinions of other people does not diminish our points or positions. That we defend our points in a civil manner against those of others does not mean their points will automatically win over our own. Only superior arguments win always in the end of the day.

At this point let me remind us of the initial point we made at the beginning of this discussion about goal setting. Setting appropriate goals will help us to determine the methods we plan to use in achieving them. I hope that most Biafranists will agree that the number one goal which of course happens to encompass all others is the attainment of freedom for us, for our people and for our fatherland. As much as we all agree that this goal is right and noble yet from experience we also know that because a case is right does not automatically make it easy to accomplish.

Yet, achieving freedom from Nigeria may be the easy part of the game. But freedom is not going to be enough by itself. Perhaps what is even more important is how to deal with the freedom when it is achieved. In thinking about this we can only take one cursory look at what is happening today in South Sudan and appreciate the importance of pursuing peace and harmony along with freedom. The current situation in South Sudan where there is a seemingly interminable and unmanageable power struggle among the ranks of the leaders should be scarier to us than any other anticipated problems once we attain freedom from Nigeria. Thinking of this booby trap of winning often should be able to make us sober and help us to work harder at becoming more mature and civil in our dealings with fellow Biafranists by cultivating the spirit of give and take. We should for this reason discard and discourage the tendency of any one person trying to display an attitude of “I know it all” and crass insubordination. This is often mistakenly referred to as the practical display of the concept of Igbo enweze. On the contrary, it is pure distortion of an otherwise wholesome concept and an unforgivable bent to cause mischief.

If we must invoke the true concept of Igbo enweze, we have to come to terms with the fact that the concept does not recognize insubordination and the tendency to display unwholesome obstinacy based on unreason and simply to create an unruly, chaotic and primitive-state-of-nature atmosphere around all contested subjects and issues. The concept of Igbo enweze is firmly grounded in the fact of equality of all men, women and peoples everywhere. So, the true spirit of Igbo enweze makes every true Igbo person to take seriously the equality of all individuals and peoples within the Igbo society and across all societies. The Igbo while recognizing this principle of equality as a vital fundamental structure of all functional societies, work hard to preserve the structures of constituted authorities and respect the role of individual leaders who have merited their positions. Usually the Igbo owe their undivided allegiance and trust to these individuals and institutions of sterling repute and accomplishment.

The Igbo despite being entrenched in the practice of eschewing the role of an eze (king) over their dominion still accept the fact that there will always be a head over a body. (The Igbo respects constituted authorities.) The Igbo while according the head and the body their places, recognizes that the relationship between the two has always been that of symbioses – the head cannot exist without the body and vice versa. Please note that Igbo enweze contrasts very drastically with the system of unquestioning feudal worshipfulness which is practiced by most other peoples with whom the Igbo presently share the Nigerian citizenship. This fundamental difference has contributed immensely in the prevailing irreconcilable divides between the others and the Igbo in Nigeria.

Another reason why the period after freedom is very critical can easily be explained. When the people are still struggling to be free, their power base is dissipated and distributed among a wide range of stakeholders in the struggle. This is different from the condition that obtains at the post-struggle era. With freedom comes the concentration of power and authority in specific persons and institutions. Yes, it is the access to power and authority that make managing freedom harder than achieving it. For this reason, we must at this stage spend a considerable amount of time in planning ahead and practicing before time how to respect the rights and opinions of others without resorting to arbitrariness and the primitive abuse of power. In order to achieve this level of refinement in wielding power, we need to practice self-control and discipline. Leaders should always remember the fact that others are just as patriotic and may have as much talents as they do. The watchword is to always have in mind that no one person has a monopoly of patriotism.

In this vein, we must point out a nascent and very dangerous phenomenon which is becoming more apparent with every passing day. It is completely against everything which the Igbo stand for and can be nipped in the bud before it turns into an uncontrollable monster. Throughout history, the Igbo have always been wary of building any kind of cult personalities or institutions where self- or personality-promotion is valued above truth and the common good. It is expected that leaders must be humble in leadership while the people must exhibit unalloyed loyalty and creative support of those elected to be at leading positions. Such leaders are seen merely as representatives of the people and their institutions who serve only at the people’s behest. At every given time, the people are expected to be ready to point out respectfully to the leaders (their representatives) some observed dangers in their blind spots.

After freedom, the people and their representatives must be ready to function under the long established Igbo practice of symbiotic relationship between the elected and the electorate. In this sacred relationship, each recognizes the other’s existence as vital to their own being. While Biafrans are still faced with seemingly insurmountable task of liberating themselves from Nigeria’s oppression they should also concern themselves equally with the onerous task of assembling very quality materials for real state building. Such questions like what kind of state do we conceive? How do we plan to achieve a functional and progressive state that is different from the present dysfunctional and retrogressive Nigerian state? These and many other questions should occupy the mind of all those who are presently involved in the Biafran liberation struggle. In order to achieve such laudable and progressive state, it will take much effort on everybody’s part. For this reason, the best and the brightest of all Biafrans must get involved in the fight to free Biafra.

On the other hand, it will require that each of us must give up the current mad pursuit of self-promotion and projection of personal power (abilities) and interests to the detriment of the common pursuit. From start to finish each person must imbibe the spirit of teamwork and the fight for the collective interest. Unfortunately, even up till this moment some of us still think that to always disagree with the opinions of others and form as many splinter groups as possible is alright and even healthy. That is not true for many reasons but especially when we look at the present South Sudan example.

In closing, as promised earlier, I will like to give us an insight into how the old Biafran Directorate of Propaganda functioned. Perhaps taking a glimpse at the way that office worked will be helpful to the present crop of Biafranists. This insight is courtesy of Roy Doron, a neutral observer of the Biafran phenomenon. He said that: “Biafra propaganda was crafted so as to avoid portraying Biafra as another case of Africans needing a white savior. The Biafrans created an image of a modern state in the making, taking care to show only the most educated and eloquent speakers in interviews.” The people at the Directorate had a clearly defined objective. The aim was to put forth first their (Biafra’s) best foot forward at all times. Not mediocre or the second bests. Duties were distributed according to abilities and there was never a situation where one person was the gburu gburu (the everything.)

Still continuing Doron said; “Biafran propaganda machine was so well oiled and so efficiently managed that it acted like any modern marketing firm and was very adaptable to the changing military situation until almost the very end of the war. The Biafrans employed surveys, focus groups, and evaluations of their media in print and on the airwaves, to ensure that their message adhered to a set of goals that was modified every week and that these goals adhered to the “Guide lines for Effective Propaganda’ articulated at the beginning of the war that expressly set out the objectives of propaganda and how to correctly achieve them.” Given the current riotous situation, if these observations are not instructive for those involved in the Biafran liberation today, I don’t know what else would. In Doron we really have it well cut out for us and we may never need to ask for more.

To succeed both at home and abroad, the old Biafrans took great care to construct their argument and manage its implementation and were disciplined enough to follow a “guideline.” As a capper Doron summed up how Biafrans succeeded by saying that; “The message they constructed had to appeal to [the international community, as well as] the people at home, who on the one hand needed little convincing of the genocidal aims of the Nigerians.”

July 7, 2016 0 comments

Frontlines

Matthew Uzukwu’s The Nigerian Civil War

by Osita Ebiem June 29, 2016

written by Osita Ebiem

Book review by Osita Ebiem

The Nigerian Civil War: The Memoirs of an Unsung Biafran Commando, a book by Matthew Uzukwu is an important book. It is published in 2016 by Feli Publishing Maryland, USA and available at www.amazon.com for $15. The book tells the story of the Biafran War from the perspective of a Biafran soldier, John Ude who fought on many fronts against the unwarranted Nigerian war of aggression against Biafra. It is clear from the book that every Biafran soldier believed in the justness of the fight till the end – an indication that the philosophy of the war was clearly communicated to the people. To all Biafrans and by all honest definitions of the word; the war was genocide. Therefore, the fighters clearly wanted to survive a certain death. Ude and the rest of Biafran soldiers fought to stop genocide. In trying to prevent the death of a people Ude and others like him gave everything they got – their very life.

The book is a faith kept by the author who painstakingly took down notes as a high school student from the oral narrations of Ude’s personal recollections of his experiences during the war. The book is well-written and an easy-read with many pages of pictures of the principal participants in the war as well as those of many kwashiorkor victims and war refugees in Biafra. It’s a book of 166 pages that catches the interest of the reader right from start and can be finished within the space of a few lunch breaks. It is a historical narration of how Biafrans successfully used ingenuity to prosecute a war of survival and ran a functional society while going through the greatest of trials. Basic social services such as law courts, electricity, fuel supplies and the post office worked till the very end of the Biafran ordeal. It was because the post office worked in Biafra that John Ude’s life was spared at the tail end of the war when he was wrongly taken for a deserter. The lesson here is that when a society works as it should, it does not only enhance the quality of living in all aspects for the citizens, lives are often saved when it matters the most, even in seemingly unrelated areas.

Ude and all the other Biafran soldiers distinguished themselves in the fields of war and successfully prevented an intended total genocide against Igbo people. They made history. And after nearly fifty years, Matthew Uzukwu wrote to preserve the history of their courage and to inspire for all time any group of people who may have to go through a similar unjust Biafran experience. But sometimes there have often been debates about; between the soldier and the historian, who does more service for humanity. This must have informed David Ben-Gurion’s conclusion. In a tone obviously meant to disparage the historian and raise the status and prestige of the soldier above the historian, Ben-Gurion said that “History is not written, history is created.”

But there will be no history at all without the historian. If a great tree falls in the forest and no one was there to hear the fall, it would never have made any sound. At the dawn of creation, physicists believe that there was a big bang that exploded to give existence to everything there is in the universe today. The fact is that the explosion which is supposed to be the one sound that spanned the entire universe at the beginning of time did not make any sound at all because there was no sentient being to hear the sound at the time. So, history is created by the soldier but history must be written by the writer for it to even exist. John Ude did his part by fighting to prevent genocide and Matthew Uzukwu has written the story to prevent a future occurrence of genocides against Igbo people. One of the highlights of the night in Washington DC area where the book was presented to the public on June 19, 2016 was the vote of thanks which was delivered by Uzukwu’s teenage daughter Chinwe. She thanked the guests who were gathered to support the father for writing the book. For many of us who were there the vote of thanks was two ways and we could not have been less grateful.

My major quarrel with the book is in the title. Unfortunately, most Igbo scholars have fallen into the trap of accepting without any examination the fallacy sold by the British and Nigerians, of thinking of the war as a “civil war.” But the truth is that there was no civil war in Nigeria until the Nigeria versus Boko Haram war which started less than ten years ago. On the contrary, Biafra versus Nigeria war was not a civil war. The standard definition of civil wars is that the war is fought within the physical geographical confines of a state. It is usually fought between or among several contending groups in the country. But this is not the case with the Biafran Nigerian conflict of 1967 to 1970. The war officially began on the 6^th of July, 1967. That was the date on which Nigeria first fired the first bullet in the war of aggression which it waged against Biafra.July 6 date is important when proving that the Biafra-Nigeria War was not a civil war. The war was GENOCIDE. The purpose of deliberately distorting the historical facts about the war by the concerned players in the war (the British and Nigerians) is to make less the weight of the crime which they jointly committed against the Igbo.

On the 30^th of May, 1967 the people of the former Eastern Region of Nigeria exercising their fundamental human right to self-determination and independence unilaterally declared their freedom and independence from Nigeria. The step the people took was the best option that they had at the time and they had every right to do what they did. Prior to this date, for a period of about one year, starting from May 29, 1966, the government of Nigeria and its citizens unremorsefully and without relent carried out a systematic program of pogrom against the Igbo population and the other ethnic peoples of the former Eastern Region. By the time of Biafrans declaration of independence, more than 100,000 Igbo and other southeasterners had been murdered. The independent declaration was an effort that the people embarked on as the last resort. They justifiably pursued their basic human right to self-defense and right to life. By the conclusion of that war, over 3.5 million Biafrans were unjustly murdered by the Nigerian state.

The truth about the Biafran War is that Nigeria waged a war of aggression against another sovereign independent state which had been in existence for almost two months. At this point, all responsible governments and leaders would have engaged in using diplomacy and negotiations to prevent any further loss of lives.

Fifty years afterward, given all the prevailing events in Nigeria’s political space, just as Biafra was right in 1967, it has remained so up till this writing in 2016. And that is partly some of the things that the reader may not find in the book. The author also failed to address appropriately the cause of the war. There is no doubt that Igbo officers dominated the rank of those who carried out the first coup d’état of January 1966 but he should have explained to the reader more about the reasons for the coup. He should have let the reader know that the coup was an attempt to save Nigeria from the suffocating Islamic bigotry and heavily corrupt political leadership of the central government of the Prime Minister and the Premier of the Northern Region.

The writer failed to tell the reader that the coup was also carried out partly to prevent the federal government’s planned “walloping of the Western Region” and to install in power the populist Obafemi Awolowo who was then serving a prison sentence for planning a coup d’état against the government. The author should have let the reader know that Ifeajuna/Nzeogwu coup d’état of January, 1966 was carried out to prevent the federal government of Nigeria’s declared intention to “wallop” or wipe out the Yoruba people of Western Region. If the author had done that he would have in that same vein established that John Ude and all Biafrans fought Biafra War to prevent the federal government of Nigeria’s declared intention and systematic program of wanting to exterminate the Igbo whom they considered to be the source of all the problems of Nigeria.

June 29, 2016 0 comments

The Society Thought

Being Igbo in Israel, A Conversation with Chief Hiben Daniel

by David Mark June 23, 2016

written by David Mark

It is not often when you get to sit with a truly special person. I first met Chief Rabbi Hiben Daniel on my way to the Kotel last year. He informed me that he was the head of the Igbo in both Israel and Nigeria. At that time I was more interested in business relationships with pro Israel Africans than taking up the cause of the Igbo, but the Almighty tends to push one where he or she is needed.

The Igbo are bit of an enigma to most Jews, but more and more there is a recognition that at some point in history they were in the Land of Israel. There are a few hypotheses on how they got to what is called Biafra, the southeastern area of Nigeria. Some believe they are the descendants of Judeans that fled to Egypt with the prophet Yirmiyahu. Others say they are Gad and came well before. Of course no one should discount the fact that the Mali empire was filled with Jews and upon its collapse many fled south to the Guinea coast, Biafra being the furthest east.

The Igbo are circumcised on the eighth day as commanded in the Torah. They do not eat unclean animals or mix meat and milk. Furthermore they are married under a chupa, a Jewish wedding canopy. There are many other correlations.

So what happened? Essentially, the British imposed Christianity on the southern areas of Nigeria. The Yoruba, mainly in the western part of Nigeria became Christian fairly easily, but the Igbo strangely enough blended both identities together. Only now, with the return of Israel to its homeland, the Igbo are waking up and realizing that they must return to their roots. There are still millions of Igbo practicing Christianity with a twist in worshiping on Shabbat, but this is do to forced missionizing by Europeans. When shown the truth, many begin to drop the ways of the original colonists.

Now, over a year after our first meeting Rav Hiben Daniel and I were able to discuss himself and the Igbo.

Hi, Rav Daniel. Thank you for sitting with me to discuss some of these issues. I know much if this information is not widely distributed to the broader Jewish world. So it is an honor to discuss these things with you.

When did you arrive in Israel?

I arrived Israel on the 5th of May 1993.

How did you grow up? What Jewish customs do you recall?

I grew up with my parents who were hiding to reveal to us that we are Jews for fear that we might leave them for Israel. I recall that we, good or bad must circumcise every male issue on the 8th day. The only time it’s extended is when the child is sick. Again, my father may he rest in peace had to wash his hands and pray every morning before talking to us.

There were other things as well like:

The separation of beds which we didn’t know why till I got married.
We never cooked meat and fish together.
Marriage rites must involve the paying of money.
During divorce the amount paid for the wife is returned to free her. Marriage is done also through yibum where the late husband has male issue and if she refuses, the halisa rite is performed to free her.
Barmitzva called Iwa Akwa.
Respect to the dead,1st 7 dys, 30 dys and 11 months of morning
Kibud ve aknasat orchim.

Do you believe Igbos are Jewish? Do they have to convert?

Yes Igbos are Jews. I don’t believe we have to convert but who am I to challenge HaMaran Ovadia zatzal, who told me why it’s good. So I started before others. According to the Ashkenazi rabbis like Rav Yehuda Frank we don’t have to., although he recommended to go to a mikveh.

How did the Igbo get to Nigeria? Why is there no written Torah?

The Igbos got to Nigeria through Egypt and some came and later left again, though few remained.

King Solomon who saw his minister Yerovam as a threat didn’t allow them come back from Egypt and the Kingdom divided.

The group who continued with Moshe May his name be blessed, came through Beersheva after helping to conquer Jordan.

Many from the tribe of Gad did not enter and scattered before coming to Land and went to Africa.

There was no Torah with them, rather Tanach. This same reason lead to their formation of the 4 market days called Nkwo, Eke, Orie, Afor which was a generally accepted tradition until they had Torah and those who didn’t have continued till today. Everything was primitive of course.

They had Torah and Synagogues till the foreign invaders came in from Portugal, Germany, Britain, etc. with missionary works and introduced their foreign gods and destroyed our Torah and Synagogues.

Have you experienced racism here in Israel? If so, please elaborate and explain what we can do about it?

Racism? In black and white. Mostly from those who are not religious. To curb it, the government has to accept all Jews with open arms. Government offices and Knesset members should comprise black and white.

A committee, I mean trusted ones should be set up by Prime Minister Netanyahu to investigate this issue and enforce a law on this. You heard about the Ethiopians; how they were removed from school because they are black? How they never allowed them to buy houses to places of their choice? How my brothers and sisters after the conversion approved by Maran Ovadia (may he rest in peace) in 2007 were deported? The judges arrested together with me and the rabbis that were teaching us? It was on news on all media. Did the government do anything? Are there no Israelis in Igboland? Lots of them practicing with the Igbo Jews, yet we are tortured in our own land [Israel].

One last question. What do you envision as your role here in Israel and in connection to the Igbo in Nigeria? Where do you want to take it?

My vision, and role here in Israel? You can see for yourself. I left everything, went to Yeshiva and carefully studied for almost 12 years in different places just to help my poor Jews who are eager to come back to our old tradition of Judaism.

It is my dream to have a Yeshiva there in [Nigeria/Biafra]. I believe that the G-d of my fathers is Omnipresent. Rabbenu Nachman is one of the big scholars and was buried abroad. There is a reason for that. All we should know is that kindness is a language, which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. Judaism without chesed is avoda zara [idol worship]. I wish you well.

Today I am blessed with a wife, Ariella Nkechi Daniel and my princess daughter, Bat-El Adaeze Chinaecherem Daniel. This is my 3rd marriage. The first two was destroyed by the interior ministry ( I know the culprits ) whose main aim was to frustrate me being the leader of my people.

Now my questions to the Israeli government:

Why has the government not done anything to bring back our brothers who were deported after their formal conversions since the Supreme Court of Israel approved the conversions done by a recognized Beit Din? I have the list of their names.

I have names of some non religious Israelis teaching some of our poor citizens who want to come back to their religion the opposite of what we learn here. They are teaching women to tie Tefillin and talit. They are using the advantage of the weak to raise money in the name of trumah. Yet we are not Jews? I have a message to all G-d fearing Jews; The hour has come. The Chief Rabbi of Israel HaMaran Yitzchak Yosef will no doubt be like his father who was there for us.

We are not fighting for aliyah, money, house ,etc. I beg with tears that the chief rabbi recognize us, help us with sifrei Torah and more Halachaic books and finally send us a beit din to go cleanse my people from their tuma [impurity] by ritual immersion and acceptance of the yoke of heaven, not teudat zeut. To this there will be a complete peace in the land of Israel. If you are current, you can see that a king from the Jewish land of Africa has emerged. This is not by accident, there is a reason for this. Those who communicate well with the King of Kings may know why. Remain blessed.

June 23, 2016 0 comments

Frontlines Thought

How Israel can help stop the genocide of the Igbo in Nigeria

by Osita Ebiem June 5, 2016

written by Osita Ebiem

By mid-1945 when the Allied Forces had helped to liberate the last vestiges of the German occupation of Europe and end the atrocious concentration camps and gas chambers in Auschwitz and other locations, more than 6 million European Jews had been murdered in the genocide which became known as the Holocaust or the Shoah. The extent and ramifications of this evil boggled the mind of every decent and civilized person and society around the world. But the deed had been done and the only reasonable option left for our collective humanity was this all-important resolve: “Never Again.” The international community resolved from then onwards that as a collective and as individual nations, societies and peoples around the world, we can all make efforts and contribute all we can to help prevent, stop and punish all crimes against humanity, including genocides anywhere it is taking place in the world. Today 2016, there is an ongoing genocide of Igbo people in Nigeria. And it is the responsibility of all people everywhere to help stop it and punish the perpetrators of this heinous crime.

Since the last 15 years the agitation for the reestablishment of the State of Biafra has gained traction. For most observers who remember the events that led to the declaration of an independent State of Biafra on May 30, 1967, almost fifty years ago, this current agitation does not come to them as a surprise. It has always been expected. Frederick Forsyth, the British author who witnessed the Nigerian genocide of the Igbo in the 1960s made this observation in his 1968 book on the subject; The Biafra Story: The Making of an African Legend:

“What had started as a belief was transmuted to total conviction; that they could never again live with Nigerians. From this stems the primordial political reality of the present situation. Biafra cannot be killed by anything short of total eradication of the people who make her. For even under total occupation Biafra would sooner with or without Colonel Ojukwu, rise up again.” (Emeka Ojukwu led the Biafran resistance against genocide and the often reminisced Biafran revolution.)

By the time the Igbo Genocide ended in 1970, 3.5 million Biafrans of which 3.1 million were Igbo, had been murdered by Nigerians with help from the Arab League as spearheaded by Egypt which supplied, pro bono the pilots who bombed only civilian targets in Biafra. The British government and USSR (today’s Russia being the successor state) supplied the bomber jets, the speed boats and other arms that enabled the genocidal Nigerian state to carry out an effective blocked of Biafra during the siege. Of the total deaths, more than 2 million died from starvation resulting from the economic blocked.

While the atrocity against the Igbo was going on in the west coast of Africa; in faraway New York in the United States, in the Spring of 1968, a particularly significant lone-conscientious protest of the evil took place. On the first anniversary of the Biafran resistance a young orthodox Jewish student of the Columbia University, Bruce Mayrock after writing hundreds of letters to world leaders to help stop the genocide to no avail, then chose to set himself afire on the premises of the United Nations protesting the genocide of Biafrans. He died a few hours later at the hospital from the wounds he sustained from the fire. The sign he had with him at the UN compound read: “Please help stop the genocide of 9 million Biafrans.” That sign is as current today 2016 as it was half a century ago when Mayrock first displayed it.

With the persistent state murders of Igbo people in Nigeria by government agents, the State of Israel and its citizens and other humanitarian minded people around the world today can still help to stop the continued genocide of the Igbo in Nigeria. As this is being written the government of the State of Israel continues to do business with the genocidal Nigerian state; cooperating closely with Nigeria’s security agencies as well as in other sectors of its economy. The government and policy makers in Israel can help stop the ongoing genocide of the Igbo today by boycotting all dealings with the Nigerian government. For a democratic and progressive state like Israel doing business with a genocidal state like Nigeria is nothing different from the state sponsorship of state terrorism, human rights violation and genocide. On another hand, it can be compared to any responsible or civilized state in the 1930s and early 40s aiding, abating and being complicit with Hitler’s Nazi regime in Germany.

An independent State of Biafra became inevitable in mid-1967 because of the ethnic and religious cleansing of the Igbo population in 1966 by the people and government of Nigeria. The massacre in which 100,000 Igbo and other easterners were killed between May 29, 1966 and May 30, 1967, is also known as the 1966 Pogrom. It was a government organized and executed purge of the Nigerian country through massacres, looting and expulsion of its Igbo population. This systematic elimination of a people based on their ethnic and religious classification by a national government was led by the Nigeria military dictator Yakubu Gowon. It was aimed at cleansing the Nigerian society of all traces of Igbo people whom the others had come to hate and loath for being “too enterprising, dominating all aspects of the society and unwilling to adopt the Islamic way of worship.”

After the Igbo and other easterners had been expelled from Nigeria, more than 3 million of them were displaced. They went back to their ancestral homeland, and in an effort to protect and preserve what was left of their battered lives, they chose the path of Self Determination and independence. They unilaterally declared a sovereign independent state which they called Republic of Biafra. Upon this declaration, the Nigerian state wedged a war of aggression against the Biafran state. The Nigerian state had two clearly declared intentions on embarking on that misadventure of aggression. One, they wanted to capture Biafra land for the Islamic caliphate of Sokoto and convert the oil wealth in the Biafran homeland. Secondly, they wanted to exterminate the entire adult population of Biafra and convert Igbo children to Islam.

It was these and other factors that led states like Tanzania to choose to stand by Biafrans’ decision to choose to die fighting for their freedom. After Biafra was declared independent, the State of Tanzania clearly understood that it was only an independent sovereign state, separate from Nigeria that could help stop the genocide of Biafrans. Tanzania quickly recognized and advocated for Biafra’s right to self-determination and independence. In April of 1968 the Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere declared his country’s support for Igbo survival in these immutable and timeless indisputable words:

“Tanzania has recognized the State of Israel and will continue to do so because of its belief that every people must have some place in the world where they are not liable to be rejected by their fellow citizens. But the Biafrans have now suffered the same kind of rejection within their state that the Jews of Germany experienced. Fortunately, they already had a homeland.

“They have retreated to it for their own protection, and for the same reason – after all other efforts had failed – they have declared it to be an independent state. In the light of these circumstances, Tanzania feels obliged to recognize the setback to African unity which has occurred. We therefore recognize the State of Biafra as an independent sovereign entity, and as a member of the community of nations. Only by this act of recognition can we remain true to our conviction that the purpose of society, and of all political organization, is the service of Man.”

With the current political and social events in Nigeria, and with the renewed mass killings of the Igbo by Nigerian state agents, Nyerere’s words could have been spoken in April of 2016. An independent state of Biafra is still as valid in 2016 as it was in 1966. For some Biafrans like Col. Joe Achuzia, Biafra was defeated in 1970 but was not surrendered. Achuzia as part of Biafrans who negotiated peace with the Nigerian authority at the end of the war, insists that Biafrans did not submit to Nigeria any instrument of surrender or any such thing like Biafra’s insignia and symbols. The import of Achuzia’s claims is that what Biafrans negotiated with Nigeria in 1970 was cessation of hostilities or an armistice but not the sovereignty, the right to independence and the right to self-determination of the people of Biafra.

After fifty years and with the continuation of the systematic elimination and marginalization of Igbo people in Nigeria, the time is now ripe for the Biafran people – the Igbo, to reclaim their sovereignty and independence from Nigeria. Therefore, it is necessary to note that in this renewed all-important life and death effort, the Igbo will appreciate the help and support of all well-meaning individuals and states like Israel which had gone through the same genocidal experience such as the Igbo are going through today in Nigeria. The truth is that since on the 29th day of May, 1966 the ceased forever to be Nigerians.

June 5, 2016 0 comments

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